0:01

Imagine your mind

0:01

opening and your brain and your

0:05

skills just opening so wide, and

0:05

you start to notice things that

0:09

you didn't see before.

0:10

[Music playing]

0:24

Welcome to the

0:24

Global Investor Podcast. The

0:26

goal of this podcast is to offer

0:26

investors and entrepreneurs

0:30

insights and practical advice to

0:30

dramatically improve the kinds

0:34

of deals that you invest in and

0:34

returns you get. My name is

0:37

James Evenson. I'm one of the

0:37

partners at Crown Private and

0:41

our investor syndicate, Obris.

0:41

Obris is about exceptional

0:45

people, unique experiences and

0:45

bespoke investment. Our

0:49

membership and our community are

0:49

made up of like-minded yet

0:52

unique and adventurous

0:52

individuals as well as family

0:56

offices. We invest in a spectrum

0:56

of deals from established

1:00

companies to startups, and we do

1:00

so with a proven formula of due

1:05

diligence, structuring and

1:05

management. Today, I'm very

1:08

excited to introduce you to

1:08

Belle Wiffen. Belle is an

1:11

entrepreneur. She is the owner

1:11

of multiple businesses. She is a

1:16

property investor and developer

1:16

in Queensland, Australia. She's

1:21

also a mother and a wife. Belle

1:21

has a strong interest in human

1:25

behavior, in developing business

1:25

culture, exploring

1:28

consciousness, and in universal

1:28

laws. Belle is inspired to

1:33

create solutions that solve

1:33

meaningful problems in business

1:37

as well as life. She has also

1:37

committed to building teams of

1:40

exceptional people to execute

1:40

these visions. She does so in

1:45

the companies that she has

1:45

created. Her current project has

1:48

been to develop a mobile app for

1:48

meditation. Belle and I are both

1:53

proponents for the significant

1:53

value of meditation for

1:56

entrepreneurs, investors and

1:56

really, for people of all walks

2:00

of life. Our interview today

2:00

delves into how the foundational

2:04

elements of freedom, focus,

2:04

leadership and mindfulness

2:08

define Belle, as an entrepreneur

2:08

as an investor, as a human

2:12

being. Welcome Belle. Welcome

2:12

Belle, thank you very much for

2:17

joining us.

2:18

Thank you, James.

2:18

It's a pleasure to be here.

2:20

Well, much

2:20

appreciated. Tell me where on

2:24

our planet are you as we're

2:24

speaking today?

2:28

I'm in Brisbane, Australia

2:30

Well, I'll give a

2:30

little context to our viewers

2:33

and listeners. We first met just

2:33

over four years ago in Hong

2:39

Kong. And I distinctly remember

2:39

two conversations, they both

2:45

were group conversations...you

2:45

and your husband, Travis, myself

2:48

and a couple of other people.

2:48

One I remember was a very deep

2:52

conversation in the bar at the

2:52

Upper House overlooking Hong

2:56

Kong. And the second one,

2:56

probably a little bit less

3:01

emotional, the emotional energy

3:01

with a little bit lower was at

3:05

the Four Seasons poolside. Do

3:05

you remember this? When we were

3:08

all sitting around for I don't

3:08

know how many hours just

3:11

chatting, but it was remarkable

3:11

how deep the conversation went.

3:17

And we had just met. And I just

3:17

I remember, I felt a kindred

3:23

kindred spirit of intuition

3:23

coming from you. And then

3:28

likewise, Travis and I had met,

3:28

you know, a week a week earlier.

3:31

So we had some head headway on

3:31

that. But I look back on that

3:36

time of establishing the bond

3:36

with you and with Travis. And

3:42

you continue to show how even

3:42

more intriguing you are. And

3:47

clearly the intuition is every

3:47

everything every encounter we

3:52

have, I see and hear and

3:52

experience, that depth that you

3:57

can convey of who you are. So

3:57

with that in mind, I'd like you

4:02

to tell us, tell our listeners

4:02

and viewers about what actually

4:05

defines you.

4:07

Hmm, it depends.

4:07

It depends which point of view

4:11

you're asking from, but what

4:11

defines me, I'd say I love to

4:16

see the best in people. And I

4:16

love to look for the beauty in

4:21

the world and the beauty in

4:21

others. And I think with that

4:24

has come...Over the years I've

4:24

had to develop like a level of

4:30

wisdom to tone that down so that

4:30

I'm not too optimistic or to

4:33

kind of question that like, Yes,

4:33

I see the best in this person.

4:36

But let me think through

4:36

considering all sides. Because

4:40

if you just see the best in

4:40

someone or look for the best in

4:43

a situation, you know, it can

4:43

set you up for a rude shock if

4:47

you're too naive or too

4:47

optimistic. So, but I love to

4:50

see the beauty in the world and

4:50

I love to see patterns. I notice

4:56

patterns everywhere I look

4:56

from...and this could be from

5:00

going down the rabbit hole and

5:00

exploring really deep, I guess

5:03

areas of consciousness and

5:03

experimenting in deep

5:06

meditation. And once you see

5:06

certain things you can't unsee

5:10

them. So I love just to see

5:10

synchronicities and

5:14

coincidences. And it's not a

5:14

coincidence. To me. It's all in

5:18

perfect order.

5:20

Gotcha, gotcha.

5:20

We're going to delve into some

5:23

of the different aspects of what

5:23

what defines you. During during

5:27

this interview, in the

5:27

introduction, I told folks about

5:31

you...entrepreneur, Mom,

5:31

inventor of an app, as well,

5:37

that we're going to talk a

5:37

little bit about, I think that

5:41

probably the best element of who

5:41

you are, that to set the stage

5:47

for our listeners for other

5:47

things we're talking about,

5:50

because I think this is

5:50

foundational is freedom. Freedom

5:53

defines you. What is freedom

5:53

Belle? And how have you created

5:58

freedom?

6:00

I think, you know,

6:00

when you're a child, and you

6:03

just feel so curious, and you

6:03

want to explore things and

6:07

understand, I didn't want to

6:07

lose that. So I think I've

6:10

always tried to create freedom

6:10

in my life. And I like rules,

6:14

and I like order, but I don't

6:14

really like being held down or

6:18

confined. And so, yeah, I've

6:18

worked on creating freedom in my

6:25

life, so that I don't have to do

6:25

what anyone tells me. And I can

6:29

do whatever I want, whenever I

6:29

feel like it. And I think part

6:33

of that is being able to create

6:33

an income to support that type

6:37

of lifestyle, but also a level

6:37

of not taking yourself too

6:42

seriously. So you can allow

6:42

yourself to accept help from

6:45

other experts in your life,

6:45

especially running different

6:48

businesses and allowing, you

6:48

know, clever, intelligent people

6:52

to take over businesses for you.

6:52

So you can you know, step back

6:55

and be free.

6:57

What was life

6:57

like before, in, in business,

7:00

and family, etc, before you

7:00

discovered freedom.

7:07

I just feel like

7:07

I've always been free. I just

7:11

feel like I've never allowed

7:11

anyone to control me. And I've

7:14

consciously chosen what I wanted

7:14

to do. I think being an

7:17

entrepreneur is something that

7:17

you create freedom in your life,

7:20

because you choose what you want

7:20

to do, you choose what solution

7:23

you want to provide, what

7:23

problem you want to solve. And

7:28

then when you create stress in

7:28

your life, you're definitely not

7:32

free. But if everything's

7:32

running smoothly, there's a

7:35

sense of freedom. You don't feel

7:35

victimized by your life, you

7:38

feel like you're consciously

7:38

choosing what you want to do.

7:41

Right? It's being

7:41

self, self defined. As I'm

7:45

listening to you, I'm thinking

7:45

about, we can allow the world to

7:51

dictate how we think. How we

7:51

live. But you are one who has

7:57

lived freely and in your various

7:57

business and life endeavors that

8:01

is something that you practice,

8:01

not just for yourself, but for

8:04

the people that you work with.

8:04

So I imagine there isn't one

8:08

formula for how you help folks

8:08

experience freedom. But if there

8:14

was, what would that look like?

8:15

Mm hmm. It's

8:15

interesting, because as the more

8:18

we talk about freedom, the more

8:18

I'm actually reflecting on, it's

8:21

probably different for each

8:21

person, you know, like a person

8:25

in a third world country that's

8:25

got a soccer ball, and they can

8:28

run outside and play soccer

8:28

anytime they want. They might

8:31

feel free freedom in doing that.

8:31

But I think um in a, in a

8:36

practical way, creating freedom

8:36

in businesses is about having

8:41

the right people having the

8:41

right systems and a good vision

8:45

so that people can follow that.

8:45

And that's really a good formula

8:49

to set yourself up for freedom.

8:51

And how have you

8:51

worked to give...can you think

8:53

of a couple of examples of the

8:53

leaders that you have raised up

8:57

in your companies? Of how you

8:57

help them experience that?

9:02

Yes, yes. So when

9:02

we set up our outsourcing

9:06

business in the Philippines, we

9:06

got really lucky and employed a

9:09

really good executive assistant.

9:09

And when we first went to the

9:13

Philippines, we went to gather

9:13

employees to support our own

9:17

businesses in Australia, and we

9:17

weren't planning on setting up

9:21

an outsourcing business or

9:21

anything like that. And I think

9:25

through recruitment over the

9:25

years recruiting different

9:28

people for different businesses,

9:28

we've really looked for people

9:32

that share our values. And I

9:32

think if you find someone that

9:37

has that kind of willingness to

9:37

grow and develop themselves and

9:43

they've got a voice, they can

9:43

speak up, they can have an

9:46

ability to see multiple sides of

9:46

a situation and they share your

9:50

values. That's a really good way

9:50

to develop or bring leaders up

9:54

finding someone that you can

9:54

resonate with.

9:57

I think that

9:57

makes sense to in that you live

10:00

in Australia, and that

10:00

particular business is in the

10:02

Philippines. You would need to,

10:02

to make sure that when you're

10:06

not present, or even when you

10:06

are present, that, that those

10:10

folks are living living out the

10:10

values that are important to

10:14

your company. And I know that

10:14

you as a human being are also

10:17

concerned about the the overall

10:17

well being of the people that

10:21

you work with you and for you.

10:25

And especially

10:25

with leadership, because they're

10:28

developing other leaders as

10:28

well. So if you're letting

10:31

someone lead your company, and

10:31

they're going to be developing

10:33

other leaders, you need to think

10:33

through, well, how are they

10:35

going to develop these leaders?

10:35

What are they going to teach

10:37

them? What skill sets? Or what

10:37

areas will they be developing,

10:42

and that's why I think values

10:42

are a really core fundamental

10:45

thing, that if you surround

10:45

yourself with people, or bring

10:49

people into your company that

10:49

share those values, then you can

10:53

kind of let them shine and know

10:53

that they'll operate in

10:57

accordance with the way you

10:57

think. And those leaders will

11:00

develop in that way, in line

11:00

with your values.

11:03

True, true, true.

11:03

Let's talk a bit about

11:06

entrepreneurship. You are

11:06

clearly an entrepreneur, I won't

11:10

ask you how many different

11:10

businesses that you've started

11:14

or even how many you're

11:14

currently involved with. But

11:17

when did you first discover that

11:17

you were an entrepreneur?

11:23

I don't think you

11:23

know that you're an entrepreneur

11:25

when you start. And I especially

11:25

noticed the word entrepreneur,

11:33

when I became an entrepreneur,

11:33

to when people started actually

11:36

saying it, entrepreneur was a

11:36

bit more of a taboo word and or

11:40

it wasn't really used as much as

11:40

it's used right now. And so

11:45

people used to say to me, you're

11:45

an entrepreneur, and I thought,

11:48

Oh, no, I'm not that.

11:50

What did you think they were telling you you were?

11:53

Well, my

11:53

perception of an entrepreneur

11:55

was like a person that, you

11:55

know, runs $100 million company,

12:00

and they've got 1000s of

12:00

employees. And, you know, it's

12:03

really like a Richard Branson,

12:03

or a big deal like that. Not

12:06

someone that's peddling stuff on

12:06

the street, or like little

12:09

startups here and there,

12:09

like...Now we know and with the

12:13

internet and everything, you

12:13

know, there's kind of tech

12:17

founders and the solopreneurs

12:17

everywhere in Bali, and Brazil,

12:20

and there's entrepreneurs

12:20

everywhere. But I think an

12:25

entrepreneur at heart is someone

12:25

that just solves problems, or

12:30

they don't settle for the status

12:30

quo. And they see something

12:33

that's not right, and it gets up

12:33

their goat, and they think I can

12:36

do this better. And then they go

12:36

and do it, or they go and find a

12:39

way to do it. And so my earliest

12:39

endeavor, actually, my my mother

12:46

was designing some clothing. And

12:46

I said, Mom, I think I can sell

12:49

this. And so I grabbed a whole

12:49

suitcase full of samples. I

12:53

think I was 15 or 16. And I just

12:53

went around to all the local

12:58

boutiques, and I showed them

12:58

mom's clothes and got orders.

13:02

And yeah, so that was a little

13:02

business that we had together.

13:07

Yeah. And then when I was 17, I

13:07

moved to the Netherlands. And

13:13

I'd been working in an

13:13

Aboriginal Art Gallery in

13:15

Australia. And I thought, I'm

13:15

going to take some art with me.

13:20

So I packed up a big suitcase

13:20

full of samples. And I made a

13:25

portfolio and then I walked

13:25

around all the major cities in

13:29

the Netherlands. I caught a

13:29

train. I caught a train to

13:33

Amsterdam and Utrecht and I was

13:33

living in Rotterdam. And I just

13:37

went door knocking showing all

13:37

of the art and I think I only

13:41

got one customer. But I also set

13:41

up an Aboriginal art exhibition

13:47

over there. And that was

13:47

actually quite a success. So

13:50

there were some big art

13:50

collectors that came and yeah.

13:54

And while I was there, actually

13:54

I got this thing called winter

13:57

toes like I'm this little

13:57

Queensland that's used to being

14:01

very warm, and I get to the

14:01

Netherlands and it's absolutely

14:03

freezing. And I thought my toes

14:03

were going to freeze off. And I

14:08

said to my boyfriend's mother,

14:08

can you take me to get some Ugg

14:11

boots? And she said, What,

14:11

what's Ugg boots? No, we don't.

14:15

I said, it's like slippers that

14:15

have got a woolen insert so it

14:19

can keep your feet warm. And she

14:19

said, No, no, no, we don't have

14:21

that here. And I said, Are you

14:21

kidding me? You guys really need

14:25

that here. So my next project

14:25

was going to research these Ugg

14:29

boots and how can I get Ugg

14:29

boots, the Netherlands and you

14:33

know, it's the that's the path.

14:33

And then sometimes as an

14:37

entrepreneur, you end up down

14:37

the path having had a couple of

14:41

successful businesses here and

14:41

there and they might still be

14:43

running in a few startups. And

14:43

then you think, gosh, like if I

14:46

just had been an executive,

14:46

like, maybe I could have gone

14:50

into human resources and just

14:50

been an HR executive, not had to

14:53

worry about like running any

14:53

businesses or cash flow. You

14:57

know, life might be more simple.

14:57

So, you know, there's a glamour

15:02

about being an entrepreneur, but

15:02

it's really hard and you...it's

15:06

school of hard knocks.

15:07

It is. I think

15:07

about all the startups that we

15:10

have that we've worked with. And

15:10

I see, you know, they start off

15:15

with great ideas that they're

15:15

creating something. And then,

15:20

you know, within a short period

15:20

of time, they're having to raise

15:23

money, and they're facing

15:23

investors, and they're having to

15:26

grow the company. And it is

15:26

hard, hard work. And for...it's

15:32

funny that you mentioned Richard

15:32

Branson, because we know him as

15:36

he is now. But if you...have you

15:36

read his book, Losing My

15:40

Virginity, where he lost Virgin,

15:40

how he lost Virgin Records in

15:43

order to create Virgin Airlines,

15:43

among others. He was in the

15:50

trenches with that. I mean, he

15:50

lost a lot more, but then we

15:55

don't know him for that today.

15:55

By the way, anyone who's

15:58

listening, watching who has not

15:58

read Richard Branson's Losing My

16:03

Virginity, that's probably on

16:03

the top five of the books that I

16:06

recommend to people. Have you

16:06

read it, Belle?

16:08

I haven't. We do

16:08

have it here. I have it in the

16:11

house. But I've opened it a few

16:11

times. I'm familiar with the

16:14

story. But it's a very easy

16:14

read. You can kind of pick it up

16:19

and just start reading it. And

16:19

there's a certain humility about

16:22

Richard Branson, you know how he

16:22

says he can't even read a P&L?

16:26

Like, I'm sure he can. But I

16:26

just love his humility. And I

16:31

think there's a lot to be

16:31

learned from him about becoming

16:35

free, about creating freedom in

16:35

your life, because he does put

16:39

the right people in place and

16:39

get out of the way. He's just

16:42

the vision guy. And, yeah,

16:45

You're right. And

16:45

he's willing to do pretty much

16:48

anything. You know, I think of

16:48

some of the publicity stunts

16:51

that he has done for the

16:51

launching of businesses, and

16:55

very few people would would do

16:55

that. And, uh, it has is served

16:59

him very well. And also, I like

16:59

your what you just said is he

17:03

has lived very freely in life.

17:03

Well, let's fast forward to the

17:09

present day, you have a

17:09

portfolio of endeavors that you

17:13

are involved with, companies

17:13

that you've started, projects

17:16

that you have you have created.

17:16

Give us a snapshot of what

17:20

you're involved with right now.

17:23

Well, front of mind, what I've been dealing with this week is a unit

17:25

development that we're doing a

17:29

little bit further north. I

17:29

think we've spoken about

17:33

property, it's it's really going

17:33

crazy at the moment. And I think

17:37

no one knew what was going to

17:37

happen with COVID. And but we

17:42

had some government stimulus

17:42

down here. And they've

17:44

accidentally overstimulated the

17:44

building market to the point

17:48

that there's no supply

17:48

available. And, you know, people

17:53

are having to wait a long time

17:53

for their constructions for

17:55

their homes to be built. But

17:55

yeah, we've got a few different

17:59

unit developments that we're

17:59

working on. And personally, what

18:03

I love about that is the

18:03

creative side of it and watching

18:06

it coming to life. So my husband

18:06

and I work really well in a

18:10

partnership. He's kind of the

18:10

numbers, really big picture guy.

18:15

And I'm a little bit more detail

18:15

oriented and structured. And so

18:20

with the with the property, I do

18:20

all of the design work and all

18:24

of our architectural activities,

18:24

and then watch it come to life.

18:28

And that's a really fun and

18:28

fulfilling process for me. And I

18:32

also love that the the units

18:32

that we're selling are in an

18:36

affordable bracket for people.

18:36

So for first time buyers or

18:39

people that are downsizing, and

18:39

I really like helping people to

18:45

have a nice space that don't

18:45

have a very big budget. Even

18:49

though the market is going up a

18:49

lot right now. I love being in

18:53

that space. So kind of creating

18:53

something special. So I'm

18:57

working on that, and my

18:57

outsourcing company in the

19:01

Philippines, and then we have

19:01

our our laundromats in the

19:04

Philippines as well. And we have

19:04

our hygiene business in

19:08

Victoria. It's there's been some

19:08

sad stories with the hygiene

19:14

business and restaurants have

19:14

really struggled but you know,

19:18

they're all opening up again

19:18

now. And and that's going really

19:21

well for us. And yeah, we're

19:21

looking at a few different

19:25

things. And then we've got the

19:25

app, the meditation app that

19:29

I've built.

19:30

And we're gonna

19:30

be talking about that in greater

19:32

detail in a little bit. That's,

19:32

that's my that's the most that's

19:35

your endeavor that's most

19:35

exciting to me. I do remember on

19:39

the real estate, it was probably

19:39

about three years ago, when we

19:44

were there on the waterfront

19:44

there in Brisbane. And you know,

19:47

I think Trav was pointing out to

19:47

me, he said you look around

19:51

everywhere and the cost of real

19:51

estate is insanely low right

19:55

now. He said I remember he said

19:55

this is a phenomenal

19:59

opportunity. Look, we're three

19:59

years later. And look how much

20:02

your the real estate market has

20:02

developed in greater Brisbane or

20:08

in Queensland, overall, my gosh.

20:08

Well, I'd like to talk to you a

20:15

little bit more about leadership

20:15

and put you on the spot of what

20:20

makes you a good leader, Belle?

20:24

Well, I believe a

20:24

really fundamental thing is to

20:28

be continuously developing

20:28

yourself, to always be open to

20:32

learn and grow. Because nothing

20:32

stands still in this universe in

20:37

this world, our lives don't

20:37

stand still. And I don't want to

20:40

be dying, I want to be growing.

20:40

So I think that's the number one

20:45

thing and especially because the

20:45

world is changing so quickly

20:47

around us. And if we have an

20:47

expectation of our people to

20:52

grow, we kind of need to lead

20:52

the way. And it's interesting, I

20:58

can get on a little bit of a

20:58

rant about this, but we're

21:01

talking about leader, leadership

21:01

and culture. You know, I've

21:05

heard stories of these leaders,

21:05

you know, their culture is just

21:11

a disaster. And their attrition

21:11

is terrible. And it's crazy

21:15

things going on inside the

21:15

company. And they pull this HR

21:19

manager in, and they say, fix my

21:19

company, fix my culture. And you

21:24

know, that HR manager does

21:24

everything she can, or the

21:27

change management people, and

21:27

they're trying to work to build

21:29

this culture. And then you've

21:29

got the leader doing this

21:32

ridiculous behavior, or like,

21:32

you know, throwing Well, if they

21:36

say, You're not allowed to, you

21:36

know, have sex with employees,

21:40

but then they'll throw a wild

21:40

party, and then they'll have

21:42

like, multiple women there, and

21:42

there'll be up to no mischief up

21:46

to no good. And, you know, if

21:46

you do that in closed doors in a

21:51

private place, and it's not

21:51

exposed to anyone in your

21:54

company, or employees or

21:54

anything, maybe you can get away

21:56

with it. But it's like with

21:56

children, whatever you do,

22:00

people will copy. So I think as

22:00

a leader, it's really important.

22:04

If you want to create a certain

22:04

culture in your company with

22:07

your people, you have to lead by

22:07

example, lead as you as you'd

22:11

want them to follow, and you

22:11

can't expect to ask them to do

22:15

something that you wouldn't be

22:15

prepared to do yourself. But

22:19

yeah, I always get back to

22:19

values with leadership. So you

22:23

know, my perception of a leader

22:23

might be different to yours or

22:25

to someone else, if someone

22:25

whatever they value, whatever

22:29

they value in their company, the

22:29

way they want to run their

22:31

company or their business. I

22:31

think choosing the people that

22:37

resonate with you and your

22:37

vision and your mission, and the

22:40

way you want to operate, that's

22:40

the most important thing. And

22:43

you can lead those people, well,

22:43

you can lead that company well.

22:46

But when there's a mismatch,

22:46

then I think you might not be

22:51

seen as a good leader.

22:53

It's been well

22:53

past a year since you've been to

22:57

TBelle, you're outsourcing

22:57

business in the Philippines. How

23:04

has that been managed? without

23:04

you being on the ground? Where

23:09

before? Weren't you visiting?

23:09

For chunks of time, at least a

23:12

few times a year?

23:13

I was Yes, I was.

23:13

It's funny, as entrepreneurs and

23:18

as founders, we tend to have a

23:18

very high value on our input, on

23:22

our own importance. And we think

23:22

that our companies need us to

23:26

run. Or we can have we can have

23:26

that idea, you know? And then if

23:31

you secretly go around and

23:31

interview all the employees, the

23:34

classic responses Oh no, they're

23:34

here. And you get this

23:37

entrepreneur that walks in the

23:37

door and starts interrupting

23:40

everyone, I have got this idea

23:40

and, you know, throws everyone's

23:43

productivity off and asks people

23:43

for things when they're in the

23:48

middle of something when, if it

23:48

was added to a project

23:50

management software or something

23:50

they could see that's on their

23:53

task list or, you know, so I

23:53

think we're

23:57

So you try not to do that when you when you show up.

24:00

Micromanage people

24:00

and get in their way? It's been

24:05

me learning where my value is,

24:05

and, and sticking to that, I

24:10

think, and so, in the beginning,

24:10

I tried to run it myself. But,

24:17

and we even thought about moving

24:17

there. But then and I liked

24:21

doing that I like getting in and

24:21

getting my hands dirty, and

24:23

being part of it. But it just it

24:23

wasn't possible. So quickly had

24:28

to put systems in place to make

24:28

that function. Without us. And,

24:35

you know, entrepreneurs love to

24:35

have everything in their head or

24:37

their processes and everything

24:37

but the more you can get that

24:39

out on paper, everything's just

24:39

reoccurring anyway. And I think

24:45

with my CEO, what she learned

24:45

about me and something that we

24:51

share is like meticulous kind of

24:51

attention to detail and pursuit

24:58

of excellence and So, when

24:58

there's this constant pursuit of

25:02

excellence, like, I know she's

25:02

doing that, and she gets that

25:05

about me, like, I want it

25:05

perfect if anything's wrong, I'm

25:07

like, why isn't this right? Is

25:07

it a human error? Is it a

25:10

systems error? Like we quickly

25:10

do a root cause analysis and

25:13

figure out how did this go

25:13

wrong? Let's not let it happen

25:16

again. And it's kind of that

25:16

Kaizen approach, you know,

25:18

continuous improvement. And I

25:18

don't need to be involved when

25:25

the leaders act in that way. And

25:25

they know what's important to

25:28

me. And so they do that, they

25:28

make that make it happen that

25:33

way.

25:34

And I can tell

25:34

you firsthand, I, I know that

25:36

they don't need you, in Cebu. I

25:36

think it was probably two and a

25:44

half years ago that Marvin and I

25:44

went with Travis down to

25:47

your...we met up, well to look

25:47

at the laundry business because

25:50

we were looking at possibly

25:50

buying into that to expand it.

25:54

But also we went to the office

25:54

and we were met by your your CEO

26:00

and the team. And I never felt

26:00

like I never felt like I was on

26:07

a pedestal because I was a

26:07

foreigner. I felt like I was

26:11

respected at the time, just a

26:11

guest, but also a prospective

26:15

client. And then when we were

26:15

considering outsourcing, just

26:19

last year, I remember you and I

26:19

had the initial call and then

26:23

Angel, your CEO, and I had had

26:23

the follow up call. And she's

26:27

doing great. I mean, you you've

26:27

done a phenomenal job of finding

26:32

someone to fill the role of a

26:32

leader, not just because she is

26:37

similar to you. But because

26:37

she's already it's, it's

26:42

intrinsic to who she is, as

26:42

well. And so she has her own her

26:46

own way of living that out. So

26:46

yeah, it's unfortunate if your

26:51

ego depended upon other people

26:51

worshipping you, I think you'd

26:56

be in a very different a

26:56

different place.

26:59

And it's not just

26:59

our egos, though, you know,

27:01

because when we can get in and

27:01

solve a problem, or we can, if

27:08

we get amongst drama, like

27:08

there's a chemical reaction in

27:12

our bodies, and you know, we

27:12

might generate some cortisol or

27:15

something like that. And then

27:15

every time we get to solve

27:18

something, or we get exposed to

27:18

a drama, and then we want to

27:23

intervene, we get a chemical

27:23

hit. So your body can create an

27:28

addiction to that chemical hit.

27:28

So even if you don't, even if

27:33

you want to be free of your

27:33

business, or not getting

27:35

involved in that, if you can

27:35

gain a level of awareness over

27:39

your body, and that your body

27:39

wants that chemical hit or it

27:42

wants to be involved in a

27:42

situation you can consciously

27:46

stop in the moment and say, if I

27:46

get involved right now, I'm

27:49

going to disempower my people

27:49

and not give them the

27:52

opportunity to solve it. I need

27:52

to step back and let them solve

27:56

it because they are capable, and

27:56

then kind of overcome yourself,

28:00

especially as an entrepreneur

28:00

because we fix stuff, right?

28:03

We're fixers. So it's getting

28:03

over the fact that yes, we know

28:08

you can fix it. Yep. How about

28:08

you get out of the way and let

28:10

someone else fix it.

28:14

I realized

28:14

recently that I like being

28:18

Superman, I like being plunged

28:18

into something and in fixing it.

28:23

But I completely agree with you.

28:23

It's not the waving of a wand

28:28

kind of fix. It is getting in,

28:28

doing what we're supposed to do,

28:35

what our...what we're

28:35

intrinsically designed to do.

28:40

But that's...a lot of that, if

28:40

we're a good leader, is getting

28:44

the people around us the team

28:44

really to solve the problem.

28:48

Because if you're just doing a

28:48

fix, you're not really solving

28:51

the problem. Yes, you're solving

28:51

an immediate problem. And it may

28:55

have ramifications if you don't.

28:55

But if you're really solving the

28:59

problem, even if you're Wonder

28:59

Woman or Superman, you are

29:05

engaging your people, your team

29:05

to actually ultimately solve the

29:12

problem.

29:14

And they might not

29:14

solve it the same way that you

29:16

do. But as long as it's solved,

29:16

and the outcomes are met, it's

29:25

still okay. As long as the

29:25

customer is happy and Yeah.

29:31

Because you're going to go back home or you're going to get off the call, and

29:33

they're still in the

29:35

Philippines, dealing with

29:35

whatever whatever it is. Now, at

29:39

the same time, I know that it's

29:39

not just a completely hands off

29:43

endeavor this year. I'm sure

29:43

that you're on the on video

29:47

calls, probably even more than

29:47

you'd prefer engagement and just

29:53

being informed of what's going on.

29:57

I have a

29:57

fortnightly call with my

30:00

leadership team. And we have, we

30:00

have metrics in place for

30:06

everything. We have KPIs, we

30:06

have NPS scores for our

30:10

customers, we have all of our

30:10

employees have their own KPIs

30:15

and targets. And so everything

30:15

is measured. So I get shown a

30:22

report with, are we meeting the

30:22

targets? Or are we not meeting

30:25

the targets? And I also have a

30:25

level of care for everyone's

30:30

well-being. So they update me on

30:30

the targets and the well-being.

30:34

And, and that's basically it.

30:34

But it's

30:41

It wasn't that way in the beginning...

30:43

Oh, of course not.

30:43

No, it took some time. It's,

30:46

that's, I mean, that's where

30:46

it's come to now. But I think

30:50

vision is really important,

30:50

because it gives context to

30:52

everything. So, you know, and

30:52

with this problem solving issue,

30:56

and that kind of thing, like if

30:56

people understand the vision,

30:59

and they know where they're

30:59

going, they can find their own

31:02

deep connection to it and find

31:02

meaning in it for themselves.

31:06

And then they can give context

31:06

to all the situations that they

31:10

come across. They can give

31:10

context, you know, is this in

31:14

line with our vision? And am I

31:14

operating in line with our

31:17

values? If the answer is yes to

31:17

those things, things are things

31:21

will flow smoothly. Mm hmm. And

31:21

so one of the one of the topics

31:27

that came up the other day that

31:27

was outside of well being and

31:29

metrics was actually about

31:29

values. And one of our new team

31:33

leaders that's coming in, she's

31:33

doing a really amazing job with

31:37

a team that she's running.

31:37

She...Angel, the CEO tasked her

31:43

with measuring our values, the

31:43

behavior inside her team. And so

31:49

it really put her on the spot,

31:49

because, and I noticed that we

31:57

will benefit from having her

31:57

present our values to us and see

32:00

her depth of understanding, like

32:00

how does she actually see and

32:03

feel the values, because if

32:03

she's going to be implementing

32:07

that within her team and making

32:07

sure it's happening, we need to

32:09

make sure she's got a really

32:09

good foundation and

32:12

understanding of them. So yeah,

32:12

I took a moment to talk about

32:16

that with her but and that's

32:16

where that's where I bring some

32:20

value in, like putting emphasis

32:20

on the values.

32:23

We have talked a

32:23

lot about leadership,

32:25

entrepreneurship. I want to move

32:25

into a realm that is actually

32:30

very close to my mind and my

32:30

heart, and really a lot of the

32:36

reason that I wanted to

32:36

interview you, Belle. And that

32:41

is a key part of

32:41

entrepreneurship, of leadership

32:50

of just living life is truly

32:50

understanding ourselves and not

32:57

just the physical, not just the

32:57

mental. But what sur-, what

33:02

surrounds us. And the topic I'm

33:02

on right now is that of the role

33:10

of meditation. And I just know

33:10

my own firsthand experience of

33:15

how crucial meditation is, for

33:15

life for me to start my day, of

33:23

getting out of not starting my

33:23

day with the to do list of

33:27

everything I have to do, but of

33:27

being able to center and let go

33:32

of me. And to actually find my

33:32

agenda in for the day. How am I

33:40

going to live my life for the

33:40

day, interact with people,

33:43

coming out of my whole being

33:43

rather than just the to do list?

33:48

Now I oversimplified it, because

33:48

for me, meditation is something

33:52

is I find is valuable throughout

33:52

the throughout the day and

33:58

throughout life. And I know that

33:58

you are far more even an expert

34:07

in this realm. And I know you'll

34:07

say to me, oh, James, you're

34:10

still in the novice that you

34:10

personally Belle, you think

34:13

you're probably still a bit more

34:13

than a novice. But the truth is,

34:16

I know there's much more about

34:16

that. I'd love to delve into

34:19

that. But let's start with the

34:19

topic of an app. So two years

34:26

ago, you and Travis were here in

34:26

Portland, you were part of Dr.

34:31

Joe Dispensa's team at various

34:31

events. And part you're part of

34:38

his leadership team. And I

34:38

remember we were we were sitting

34:41

at dinner and you said James, in

34:41

a meditation recently, I created

34:48

an app, a meditation app. So

34:48

we're going to fast forward two

34:55

years...at that point in time it

34:55

was a concept, you were able to

34:58

articulate it. I believe in

34:58

writing after the fact. And then

35:02

two years later, I have that app

35:02

on my phone and I use that app

35:09

all the time. First of all,

35:09

let's set the stage before we go

35:13

into the app. Tell us about how

35:13

did your spiritual mindfulness,

35:21

personal development, personal

35:21

development, journey begin? And

35:26

why. So we got to put the

35:26

context in of you Belle? Because

35:29

it's not just about this, this

35:29

conversation isn't about

35:31

meditation in general. It's

35:31

about you. So...

35:35

Hmmm. That's a

35:35

rabbit hole question, but I'll

35:40

answer it very briefly. My

35:40

father is a professor in

35:46

genetics, a scientist and

35:46

academic. He's actually now in

35:49

an administration role in

35:49

leadership. But he's been a

35:53

professor for many years. And my

35:53

mother is more of the eccentric,

36:00

creative, really free spirited

36:00

lady, entrepreneurial. And, you

36:07

know, she also loves academia.

36:07

But my dad and my mother are

36:12

very, very different people. And

36:12

actually, they divorced when I

36:15

was very young. But, you know,

36:15

throughout my life, Dad was

36:19

quite matter of fact, black and

36:19

white and encouraging me to go

36:23

into the sciences and to go to

36:23

university and you know, down

36:26

that academic path, and you can

36:26

imagine what he thinks about my

36:29

entrepreneurial choices. Every

36:29

time I have a business idea,

36:34

he's like, hmm, how about you go

36:34

into a science degree instead?

36:38

Anyway, it's like, it's ok.

36:38

It's, it's all figured out. But

36:43

then, with Mom, you know, she,

36:43

she had these clairvoyant

36:47

friends, and they'd be

36:47

predicting the future, and

36:51

they'd be doing all this weird

36:51

stuff. And sometimes the

36:56

clairvoyants would be correct in

36:56

their predictions, or one lady

37:01

found a missing person for the

37:01

police. And it's you can't

37:05

quantify or measure it. And I, I

37:05

knew that there was something

37:09

there. And I had to figure out

37:09

how it worked. So it kind of

37:14

started me off on this path.

37:14

When I was 12, or 13. I started

37:19

going to church and trying to

37:19

figure it out myself. And I went

37:22

through lots of different

37:22

religions and spoke to different

37:26

leaders in their field trying to

37:26

figure out like was, how can I

37:30

prove this? I know there's

37:30

something there, there's got to

37:32

be proof, let me understand it.

37:32

And then I found later in my

37:37

early 20s, really more about

37:37

quantum physics, and it's a

37:41

science that can give a lot of

37:41

answers, even though it's a

37:48

quirky thing to study, because

37:48

it changes when you observe it,

37:52

you know. It's the science that

37:52

I found that it can explain the

37:57

weird and wonderful things. And

37:57

that's, that's what started me

38:01

off down the path. And that led

38:01

to meditation.

38:07

What role does

38:07

meditation serve? Or how is

38:11

meditation a foundational part

38:11

of your personal development?

38:16

Meditation

38:16

disconnects me from the outside

38:19

world. So what we see around us,

38:19

all of our busy things, our busy

38:25

lives, our activities, we're

38:25

kind of in this illusion, where

38:29

this is what we see. And this is

38:29

what we think our life is. And

38:33

in the physical 3-D world,

38:33

that's it is that that's our

38:36

truth, that's what we've

38:36

created. But when we go inward,

38:39

and they call it 5-D, like the

38:39

quantum field, or disconnect

38:42

from the outside world, and go

38:42

inward. And that's when we

38:47

connect to this vastness, where

38:47

anything is possible. And it's

38:52

an unlimited place, really. So

38:52

when you disconnect from the

38:57

outside world, you create all of

38:57

this space for new things to

39:00

come in. So you receive new

39:00

insights, your energy changes, I

39:06

mean, you would know the

39:06

benefits yourself from doing it

39:09

on a day to day basis. But the

39:09

benefits are extraordinary. And

39:15

then there's some hacks as well

39:15

so you can begin to like

39:19

consciously create your life

39:19

once you understand how it

39:22

works, you can begin like kind

39:22

of manipulating things to make

39:26

cool stuff happen like a real

39:26

life magician, create your life.

39:30

Let's save that

39:30

for a future podcast, that's

39:32

that I completely agree with

39:32

you, you're spot on. Well, for a

39:37

lot of folks, that just the

39:37

thought of meditation is

39:40

something completely out there

39:40

or even they're disconnected

39:44

with their they think they're

39:44

disconnected with the

39:47

metaphysical. They just don't

39:47

realize that how much they

39:50

really are. Or there's just lack

39:50

of awareness. So what what

39:54

advice would you give to folks

39:54

for for entrepreneurs in

39:57

particular, where to start.

40:00

Yeah, I think it's

40:00

important to remember what I

40:03

mentioned before about the body.

40:03

So the body thinks that it's in

40:08

charge, and it runs the show.

40:08

But the mind actually is greater

40:12

than the body. And the mind is

40:12

like the master, the mind can

40:15

call can call all the shots. But

40:15

the body kind of just follows

40:20

these habitual actions, gets up

40:20

in the morning makes coffee, you

40:24

kind of do these normal things

40:24

that you do in a habit. But if

40:30

the mind makes a conscious

40:30

choice, you can actually disrupt

40:33

the process and do something

40:33

different. And so with

40:36

meditation, you need to get your

40:36

body to sit down and be quiet

40:41

and be still for a minute. And

40:41

so even the thought of that can

40:45

be like, I don't have time for

40:45

that, I'm not interested in

40:48

doing that, or the body can, you

40:48

might have an intention, I'm

40:51

going to try and sit down and

40:51

meditate and see what it's like,

40:54

but the body might try to

40:54

overcome you. So it's just being

40:58

aware that the body is like a

40:58

child or a toddler. And the mind

41:01

is the master or the parent. And

41:01

the mind has, can have control

41:06

over the body if it decides to

41:06

consciously step in. So if

41:10

someone was interested in

41:10

exploring the benefits of

41:13

meditation, first become aware

41:13

of that, that your body will

41:17

probably give you grief, but

41:17

just sit it down and tell it

41:21

just to be quiet and sit down

41:21

for a minute while you try this.

41:24

And then there's so many types

41:24

of meditation you can try. But

41:29

just a candle, actually, a

41:29

really simple meditation is just

41:36

lighting a candle, and look at

41:36

the flame and observe the flame

41:41

and then close your eyes, and

41:41

then see the flame in your mind.

41:44

And you keep watching the flame.

41:44

And then when it disappears,

41:47

open your eyes again and look at

41:47

the flame and get the picture

41:50

like the etching of the flame in

41:50

your mind, close your eyes

41:53

again, and focus on the flame

41:53

and just do that for like five

41:56

or if you can do 10 minutes, and

41:56

it brings you so present. And so

42:01

aware that when you come out of

42:01

it, all of a sudden your busy

42:05

life has slowed right down, and

42:05

you begin to see things that you

42:11

didn't see before. So if we're

42:11

talking about benefits as an

42:15

entrepreneur or an investor,

42:15

imagine your mind opening and

42:20

your brain and your skills just

42:20

opening so wide. And you start

42:24

to notice things that you didn't

42:24

see before. So you function and

42:28

operate at a much higher level

42:28

than what you would if you're in

42:30

your important busy day to day

42:30

thing. You become you become a

42:36

master, you become more aware,

42:36

you become a master of your

42:38

life, and you're less emotional

42:38

as well. So you're aware of your

42:41

emotions in decision making,

42:41

they don't run you as much, you

42:45

can be kind of more present and

42:45

more open and aware in decision

42:50

making. And it helps with

42:50

stress. Like, you know, the

42:53

benefits are numerous.

42:55

No I can I

42:55

completely agree with you. As

42:57

I'm listening. I'm just thinking

42:57

of how I live my day. And I, I

43:02

find that you're spot on Belle.

43:02

Life is is life is not easy in

43:11

business. But for me, meditation

43:11

plays a key role in being able

43:19

to open the creativity and to

43:19

really to solve solve the

43:23

problems. I'm a much better

43:23

Superman with getting that

43:28

disconnect from everything that

43:28

frenetic life that's going on.

43:31

And I think of the people you

43:31

know, my friends, those who just

43:35

live in the frenetic moments, I

43:35

think that they could be a lot

43:39

more productive, happy, at

43:39

peace, connected, you know? So

43:47

you're both business person and

43:47

metaphysical person. What does

43:54

that what does it mean to be a

43:54

business person with a

43:57

metaphysical lens?

43:59

Well, I began to

43:59

touch on it really, just now.

44:04

And in fact, I just when you're

44:04

talking about the creativity of

44:07

meditation, I was thinking about

44:07

Ray Dalio. You know, Ray Dalio

44:11

from Bridgewater. Yeah, so he's

44:11

practiced Transcendental

44:15

Meditation for many years, I

44:15

think, probably at least 30

44:18

years. And he attributes most of

44:18

his creative thinking to, to the

44:26

meditation practice. That he's

44:26

had, most of his insights come

44:29

from that meditation practice.

44:29

So I think, and when you become

44:36

more aware, you notice more

44:36

synchronicities in your life.

44:40

And when you meditate, and if

44:40

you're in a really good state in

44:45

your meditation, and you begin

44:45

to think about something that

44:47

you want to happen in your

44:47

business, and then your idea

44:51

meditation you going through

44:51

your day, and all of a sudden,

44:54

spooky stuff starts to happen.

44:54

And these things start popping

44:57

up from what you asked for in

44:57

your meditation. That's how you

45:02

can bring the metaphysical and

45:02

business together, or the

45:06

metaphysical and investing

45:06

together. You start to become

45:11

aware of your environment and

45:11

the feedback that it gives you.

45:14

And our environment is giving us

45:14

feedback all the time. And you

45:19

know, some people call it

45:19

universal law, or laws of

45:22

nature, but everything has an

45:22

order. And the more we become

45:26

aware of it, the more we can

45:26

just just gain gain so much

45:32

deeper wisdom in our lives and

45:32

in our decision making. So, hmm,

45:38

it's meditation will help you

45:38

become more aware of that.

45:43

I think you've said or you've explained it quite well. Well, let's move

45:44

into a tool. Tell us about the

45:49

Med Collective?

45:51

Well, actually,

45:51

it's a fun story to tell you the

45:54

meditation that I had of when

45:54

that idea came to me.

45:59

I shouldn't have

45:59

told I should have let you tell.

46:02

I should have let you tell. Go ahead.

46:03

That's okay, you didn't, you didn't tell what I saw in my meditation. Because it

46:05

wasn't the app in its current

46:08

form. I think that's just the

46:08

beginning. But there's more to

46:13

come with this technology. But

46:13

okay, so sometimes I play Mario

46:19

Kart with my son, the Nintendo

46:19

racing game. And then

46:24

That's a true confession, isn't it?

46:26

It is. And also, I

46:26

used to play Mario Brothers when

46:29

I was a kid. It's how my

46:29

brothers and I still bond. Just

46:35

quietly on a Sunday. Yeah, but

46:35

so when you play Mario Kart, and

46:39

probably other video games,

46:39

there's a playback feature. So

46:43

for me, I'm usually running into

46:43

bumpers, and you see the post

46:48

production or the after

46:48

aftermath of the race, it plays

46:52

back to you afterwards. And I

46:52

see myself like where I could

46:56

improve and don't always watch

46:56

it, but it just plays

46:59

automatically. So now, inside

46:59

this meditation, actually, to

47:04

give you a little bit more

47:04

context, the more you meditate,

47:07

the more you learn all of these

47:07

different types of meditation,

47:10

there are so many different

47:10

skills and tools that we can

47:13

learn, you know, you can go into

47:13

your third eye and activate your

47:17

pineal gland. And that's kind of

47:17

this interdimensional

47:20

experience, we get a lot of

47:20

lucid, really cool, you know,

47:23

they talk about DMT, that you do

47:23

that with your pineal gland, you

47:26

turn the chemistry on in your

47:26

body to create that effect. Or

47:30

you can open your heart and

47:30

radiate, you know, gratitude and

47:33

love and a coherent heart

47:33

signal. And they can measure

47:36

that the HeartMath Institute

47:36

measures that. And they've

47:39

measured all the health benefits

47:39

and the influence that it has on

47:42

your environment around you. Or

47:42

you can do breathwork. So

47:46

there's so many different techniques that you can incorporate into a meditation.

47:48

And so at this event I was at,

47:56

we were doing lots of different

47:56

styles of meditate, lots of

48:00

different techniques. And I

48:00

thought, what if I could change

48:03

up these techniques and do them

48:03

in a different pattern, not the

48:06

way the teachers delivering it?

48:06

Or I wonder what else other

48:10

people would like to do in the

48:10

audience, how they would arrange

48:13

the meditation? How would they

48:13

do their heart first in their

48:16

breath later. And so I was

48:16

inside this meditation. And I

48:21

was inside this really

48:21

futuristic kind of white

48:25

capsule, and it had a lounge

48:25

inside it. And then I had all of

48:30

this biotech biotech hooked up

48:30

to me like a brain cap and my

48:35

heart signal and like, patches

48:35

all over me. And now we're

48:38

reading my vitals. And so when

48:38

I'd go into a meditation, I

48:44

chose my meditation inside the

48:44

capsule. And I chose my

48:47

experience, I created my

48:47

experience using the iPad or the

48:51

software that was there, and I

48:51

created my own meditation. And

48:54

then I hit go, and then I went

48:54

into it. And then all my vitals

48:57

were measured, and then I could

48:57

see the playback. So like the

49:01

Mario Kart, I could see the

49:01

playback of what was happening

49:04

to my Yeah, so what's happening

49:04

to my physiology inside that

49:08

meditation, because once you get

49:08

like, once you get it, like,

49:15

there's just nothing better. I

49:15

don't think there's any drug in

49:18

the world. There's the

49:18

chemistry, the experience that

49:21

we can create when we connect in

49:21

meditation. It's like we've

49:26

read, we've read the brain, I've

49:26

been at events, and I've had my

49:29

brain read, and you can see the

49:29

brain goes into gamma, which is

49:32

usually when people have an

49:32

epileptic fit, they go into

49:37

gamma. But it also happens in

49:37

extreme states of euphoria, or

49:41

like orgasmic states or

49:41

something like that. And so you

49:44

can learn how to create these

49:44

states and you can just take the

49:47

ride of your life and being a

49:47

person that likes to refine

49:52

things. I just wanted to keep

49:52

refining my experience to have a

49:55

better and better experience and

49:55

also give other people the

49:58

opportunity to do that. So in my

49:58

meditation, that's what I saw.

50:02

And then I came out of it. And I

50:02

told Trav and I got this and

50:06

this. And he's like, well, just

50:06

let's just do the software.

50:09

First, why don't we do that in

50:09

an app? And I said, Okay, let's

50:13

do that in an app. So it's

50:13

create your own experience

50:17

inside the app. But you know, we

50:17

don't have the biotech attached

50:22

to it yet. So you know, I need

50:22

to go and get a bunch of brain

50:26

scientists together and develop

50:26

that tech that can be used at

50:29

home. There is some tech out

50:29

there right now, but it's not as

50:33

accurate as it could be. But you

50:33

know, consolidating all the

50:37

biotech that's in the world and

50:37

developing some new things and

50:40

having it talk to the app, so

50:40

you can have your own experience

50:44

at home, observing what happens

50:44

in your physiology and then

50:48

refinine and critique that so

50:48

you can keep having a more epic

50:52

experience over and over.

50:54

I you know,

50:54

before the interview started, we

50:56

were talking about the Apple

50:56

Watch, and what that might be

51:01

key to getting all the some of

51:01

the feedback for the for the

51:05

body image.

51:07

I do need...I'

51:07

need a really strong NDA.

51:14

True, I don't

51:14

think we want everything

51:16

recorded to the to the cloud.

51:16

All right, well, let's go into a

51:21

little bit more about the the

51:21

app itself. So med Med

51:24

Collective, can you tell us some

51:24

about some of the components of

51:27

what makes it fun function?

51:32

Well, it's, um,

51:32

it's a group of curated guides.

51:35

So you probably notice, as I was

51:35

talking about TBelle, I like

51:39

things to be really high

51:39

quality. So everything about the

51:43

app that we've done is really

51:43

high quality. So we've sourced

51:47

guides, curated guides to invite

51:47

them onto the app. And then I

51:53

work with music production

51:53

experts who are very experienced

51:59

in producing meditation events.

51:59

And there's certain effects you

52:03

can put on the music and on the

52:03

voice to give it like a very

52:06

cinematic feeling. And so we

52:06

have really beautiful cosmic

52:11

music that just makes the hair

52:11

stand up on your back of your

52:14

neck, and then produced at a

52:14

really high quality with those

52:18

meditation guides. And then

52:18

those guides come from all

52:22

different walks of life, and

52:22

their content is in there. And

52:26

so you could just go in and

52:26

listen to the guided

52:28

meditations. Or you can then go

52:28

in and create your own

52:32

meditation, we've taken all the

52:32

guides content and cut it up

52:36

into little pieces and put it

52:36

into categories. So you can mix

52:39

and match your own experience.

52:39

And I think what we found from

52:45

the user behavior is people

52:45

aren't as bold and adventurous

52:53

yet to make a lot of their own

52:53

meditations, they tend to be

52:56

listening to a lot that we

52:56

create for them, we'll mix

52:59

different playlists in it for

52:59

them and listening to the guide.

53:02

So, you know, I feel like it

53:02

might be a bit before its time.

53:07

But admit it. I mean, meditation

53:07

is a reasonably well, it's

53:12

definitely not a new thing. But

53:12

it's becoming more and more

53:16

mainstream with the likes of

53:16

Headspace and Calm. And so

53:19

people are becoming more aware

53:19

of it. But you know, someone

53:22

started out on Calm, and they've

53:22

had kind of some basic

53:25

meditations. And they want to up

53:25

the ante and see what else is

53:28

possible, they can jump over and

53:28

try the Med Collective. But we

53:33

also have found that it's been a

53:33

great platform that we've built.

53:38

And were now talking to other

53:38

meditation leaders about helping

53:42

them create their own app using

53:42

our platform, which is, you

53:46

know, if they don't want to come

53:46

become part of the Med

53:48

Collective, they can have their

53:48

own platform, and just an app as

53:53

a model to deliver content to

53:53

the world. It's so scalable, and

53:58

so efficient. And I think it's a

53:58

really powerful opportunity for

54:02

people that have content that

54:02

want to reach their users, and

54:06

put it behind a payment gateway.

54:06

An app is a really good way for

54:11

leaders to do that.

54:13

You've just described two different ways of utilizing the app. One is your

54:15

your, your own, it's as an app,

54:20

the Med Collective, but also

54:20

white labeling. What led you to

54:26

monetize meditation? Well it's,

54:26

because both of those are the

54:30

moderni monnit monetization of

54:30

meditation.

54:34

It's just the way

54:34

I'm wired. I love money.

54:41

[laughing] I will

54:41

not accept that simple answer.

54:44

No, I can't help.

54:44

You can't, I can't help it. You

54:49

can't help it. I mean, look,

54:49

look at it from a universal law

54:54

point of view. The more value

54:54

you deliver, the more you are

54:57

rewarded, and if someone wants

54:57

to obtain something of value,

55:01

there needs to be an energetic

55:01

exchange. So if it's money,

55:04

they're going to pay money or in

55:04

the olden days, like, they'd

55:07

give you a bag of potatoes and

55:07

you'd swap like there's a trade,

55:10

right. And so if you come up

55:10

with an idea that's valuable,

55:16

people want to pay for it. And,

55:16

you know, I wouldn't have just

55:22

set out and built a meditation

55:22

app just for the money to be

55:27

honest, I did it because I'm

55:27

inspired by meditation. And I

55:30

was inspired by the concept, and

55:30

I believe others will find value

55:34

in it. And the fact that it's

55:34

highly scalable is an added

55:41

bonus.

55:43

I think I, I

55:43

understand, and I think it's, I

55:47

think it is very much who you

55:47

are Belle, just like you said,

55:51

it's just intrinsic. You're an

55:51

entrepreneur, you create things.

55:57

And part of the integrated

55:57

reasoning is is make to make

56:01

money. But the truth is, I know

56:01

that it is an externalization of

56:07

who you are, and what you value,

56:07

and what you hope for other

56:09

people, to be able to have the

56:09

strength and the peace and the

56:18

the ability to to live their

56:18

lives well. Give us some idea of

56:23

what what's on the horizon for

56:23

it?

56:27

Well, we're in the

56:27

early stages of the Med

56:29

Collective, you know, there's

56:29

kind of three aspects to what

56:32

I've spoken about. There's the

56:32

platform in two different ways

56:35

that it can be offered, either

56:35

to leaders that want to get

56:39

their content out, or people

56:39

that want to come on to the Med

56:43

Collective. And then there's the

56:43

whole biotech plugin piece,

56:48

which I'm super inspired by. I

56:48

think that's further away.

56:55

Because I'd like it to be

56:55

standalone, I'd like it to be

56:58

able to fund itself. So we try

56:58

to have all of our companies and

57:03

investments stand alone and fund

57:03

themselves. It's also my

57:08

husband's little carrot for me,

57:08

like get your money to get your

57:12

app to make some money, and then

57:12

you can spend whatever you want

57:14

on it. Okay, just reinvest all

57:14

the money back in. Or if I can

57:19

show him some blue sky, he might

57:19

be like, okay, babe, you can

57:21

have some money, you can have

57:21

some more cash for that.

57:26

No, just to be

57:26

clear, he's not your overlord.

57:30

He is in a partnership where

57:30

that's it, that's him just being

57:36

in an equal role, correct?

57:38

Absolutely. He is

57:38

equal. But I also like, you

57:42

know, by surrounding myself with

57:42

smart people, people that are

57:45

smarter than me. I love

57:45

delegating things to people that

57:49

if they're inspired by it, and

57:49

they're really skilled at it.

57:52

And Travis is a really skilled

57:52

money manager, and he can make

57:56

the sexiest spreadsheets you've

57:56

ever seen. Like, I here's this

58:01

concept, tell me how much money

58:01

I'm going to make. And then I

58:04

just give him a few line items.

58:04

And then he just whips off this

58:07

really extravagant spreadsheet

58:07

and all the formulas are in and

58:09

I just change the numbers where

58:09

I want and I can see where I'm

58:12

going to be. And so, you know,

58:12

we do we make all of our

58:16

decisions together. But I

58:16

definitely delegate that money

58:20

management side for that to him

58:20

like a CFO. And then he reports

58:24

to me, we report to each other.

58:24

You know, ultimately, if I

58:29

wanted to invest money into the

58:29

app more, I have to, I have to

58:33

show him why and how and, and

58:33

there's a genuine demand for it.

58:39

But with the Med Collective, I

58:39

think, you know, it's fairly

58:44

fresh talent that we've got on

58:44

there right now, it is very

58:47

curated, but we don't have any

58:47

huge name people on there. So I

58:51

love the idea of being able to

58:51

bring in kind of newer guides or

58:58

less, less well known guides

58:58

that have got really good work.

59:03

That's kind of unheard of or

59:03

they haven't been discovered

59:06

yet. Bring some really good work

59:06

in as like a talent incubator

59:10

and let them get discovered on

59:10

the Med Collective. And, you

59:13

know, the rising sea lifts all

59:13

boats, and they all succeed

59:16

together. Or if one of them

59:16

wants to bounce out onto their

59:19

own app, they can do that, too.

59:19

And we just continue bringing

59:22

new talent in. But my job is

59:22

great, because I just get to

59:25

experiment with all the

59:25

meditations and like, you know,

59:29

half my day. I'm like, Oh, just

59:29

checking out different

59:32

meditations. And I think Wow,

59:32

this is a job that I created.

59:36

Nice. Wow. Well,

59:36

I will tell folks, this is not

59:40

sponsored. I actually wanted to

59:40

do this. I have the Med

59:44

Collective on my phone and I use

59:44

it, but Belle and Travis are not

59:51

paying me to to sponsor this.

59:51

I'm doing it. I'm having this

59:56

conversation because I want

59:56

others to experience meditation

1:00:00

and, and folks can give it a try

1:00:00

for a couple of weeks without

1:00:04

cost. You can download Med

1:00:04

Collective on your other

1:00:10

platforms, both Apple as well as

1:00:10

Android, is that correct?

1:00:13

That's right. Like

1:00:13

you say, James, I don't mind if

1:00:16

people don't take the Med

1:00:16

Collective. If they're

1:00:19

interested in exploring

1:00:19

meditation, just step into it,

1:00:24

whatever opportunity, like

1:00:24

whatever opportunity the candle

1:00:27

is, is something that you can do

1:00:27

at home.

1:00:30

Yeah, yeah. We're

1:00:30

going to wrap up. But I have one

1:00:34

last question for you, Belle.

1:00:34

You are both an inspired person

1:00:40

and an inspiring person. That's

1:00:40

not a question. The question is,

1:00:45

what's next for you?

1:00:47

Well, I thought I

1:00:47

had it all worked out before

1:00:49

COVID, hit, we'd kind of sold

1:00:49

everything and pulled our kids

1:00:54

out of school, and we were

1:00:54

traveling the world, and

1:00:57

homeschooling our kids, and I

1:00:57

wanted to be a perpetual

1:01:01

traveler. That's a freedom,

1:01:01

that's a freedom thing as well,

1:01:05

you know, and I think the world

1:01:05

will go back to a way that we

1:01:11

can travel in the future. But

1:01:11

for now, I'm really grateful

1:01:15

just to be kind of safe and

1:01:15

sound in Australia. And I

1:01:19

wouldn't want to be traveling

1:01:19

and affect our community. Our

1:01:23

government's worked hard to keep

1:01:23

it that way. So you know,

1:01:27

working with an app, I can have

1:01:27

Zoom calls, and I can do

1:01:30

everything from here and still

1:01:30

reach the world. But locally,

1:01:34

I'm really inspired by the

1:01:34

property development that we're

1:01:38

doing. And that's something

1:01:38

that's in my immediate future.

1:01:41

There's a housing shortage here,

1:01:41

people are finding all kinds of

1:01:47

issues trying to get a hold of a

1:01:47

place to live, especially

1:01:52

families that they might be

1:01:52

renting. And then the owner

1:01:54

decides to sell because the

1:01:54

markets so hot, and then

1:01:58

families are displaced, and

1:01:58

they're living in tents and

1:02:01

caravans. And so there's a real

1:02:01

housing issue here. So I think I

1:02:05

could focus on some local issues

1:02:05

for now, while I'm stuck in

1:02:12

Australia, till I can travel

1:02:12

again.

1:02:14

Not a horrible place to be stuck, by the way.

1:02:17

Hmm, no, that's

1:02:17

right.

1:02:21

Well, that's, that's in the near that's in the near future. And I'm sure

1:02:22

there's a lot more ahead. I was

1:02:25

just realizing that I'm going to

1:02:25

have to have you speak at one of

1:02:29

our forthcoming events. Soon, I

1:02:29

hope somewhere somewhere in the

1:02:33

world. I hope I hope you'll be

1:02:33

up for it. You'll be up for it.

1:02:37

Right?

1:02:38

It sounds fun.

1:02:38

Sure, I'd love to.

1:02:40

Okay. All right.

1:02:40

Well, hey, Belle, thank you very

1:02:43

much for your time. It's a

1:02:43

pleasure to be able to give our

1:02:47

viewers and listeners a glimpse

1:02:47

into your life and your world,

1:02:53

and what makes you tick, and

1:02:53

then how you play that out for

1:02:57

the benefit of those around you.

1:02:57

So thanks very much for sharing

1:03:02

this moment with us.

1:03:04

Thank you so much.

1:03:04

And I hope the viewers were able

1:03:07

to gain something a takeaway of

1:03:07

some kind or something that

1:03:10

intrigued them to go and explore

1:03:10

it further.

1:03:14

I'm sure that I'm

1:03:14

sure they have. Yeah. All right.

1:03:16

Thanks very much, Belle.

1:03:18

Thanks, James.

1:03:20

Thanks for joining us for the Global Investor podcast. If you like

1:03:21

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